Retirement in San Diego

San Diego Retirement Communities

Senior communities, 55+ communities, or retirement communities – whatever you choose to call them, we have 13 of them in San Diego County. All are located in the North County, where land was inexpensive compared to San Diego proper when these communites were built. Nowadays, the new senior communities are being built in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, where land is inexpensive compared to San Diego, Orange, or Los Angeles Counties. There are no new senior communities being built at this time in coastal Southern California.

San Diego is one of the best places in the world to retire, but it’s not one of the cheapest. If your goal is inexpensive housing, we cannot compete with less expensive areas like Palm Springs, Arizona, or Florida. People retire here because of our excellent climate and our high quality of life. When my parents moved here years ago, they said that they did more living here in one year than they did in New Jersey in five. And that’s true – there’s always so many things you can do, and you are not battling the elements to do them.
We have 55+ homes starting in the $100,000s for a 2 bedroom single story attached home with a one car garage and a front and back yard. It’s amazing that you can find that sort of housing in San Diego for that price, and it’s only in the senior communities. On the other end of the scale, we have 2500+ square foot homes in upscale senior communities for over $700,000.

Senior Living Community

To find a senior living community that fits your lifestyle, ask yourself if you want lots of clubs and activities or not. If the answer is yes, stick with one of the large communities. Depending on your price range, consider Ocean Hills or Oaks North (high price), or Oceana (low price). If you don’t want lots of clubs and activities, then consider one of the smaller communities like Las Brisas or Emerald Lake.

There is so much to say about retirement communities that I have an entire website devoted to the subject. You’ll see pictures of all the senior communities, along with prices, descriptions of the amenities, and maps.